Hawaii board accepts utility company’s renewable energy plan

The Power Supply Improvement Plan aims to have the state be 100 percent renewable energy by 2040 with no fossil fuel assets on the islands by 2045.

The five-year plan will double Hawaii’s renewable energy penetration from 25 percent to 52 percent in 2021, and also nearly double the state’s photovoltaic installations from 717 megawatts to 1,465 megawatts in the same time period.

HECO's plan calls for energy storage and other grid technologies to enable a high penetration of renewables. And long-range plans for each of the five utility island systems includes Battery Energy Storage Systems to provide load shifting and ramping assistance.